Central Banking
Kenyan parliament passes new payments regulation law
Central Bank of Kenya governor offers overview of 2011 for economy; reports on progress of National Payments System Bill
Fed picks new head for banking supervision division
Michael Gibson takes over from Patrick Parkinson on January 1; Parkinson leaves Fed after 30 years of service
Inelastic demand and supply explain oil volatility: Bank of Canada paper
Bank of Canada study shows decline in price elasticity raised oil price and reduced oil production volatility
Capital flows reversed in India post-QE2: RBI paper
Reserve Bank of India study shows capital inflows into India declined after the US Federal Reserve’s second quantitative easing programme
Minneapolis Fed’s Kocherlakota warns FOMC against inflation drift
Minneapolis Federal Reserve president Narayana Kocherlakota says Federal Reserve should formulate a public contingency plan to avoid tolerance of high inflation
MAS’s Menon defends central bank’s governance structure
Monetary Authority of Singapore managing director Ravi Menon says central bank has proven it can act independently “within” government
UK banks lament costs of ring-fencing operations
House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee report shows UK’s biggest banks believe recommendations to ring-fence retail operations underestimate costs of reform but agree measures are a “done deal”
Major central banks take co-ordinated action
Central banks reduce US overnight index swap rate from 100 basis points to 50 basis points above market rate to flood financial system with dollar liquidity
Thailand and China ease monetary policy
Thailand cuts benchmark rate and China lowers reserve ratio as eurozone crisis impact is felt in Asia; Thailand also keen to combat effects of devastating floods
Eurozone bolsters EFSF’s lending capacity
European Financial Stability Facility to guarantee between 20% and 30% of new bond issuance by beleaguered eurozone states; new measures will enable fund to leverage €250 billion of funds
Lithuania fires head of credit institutions supervision department
Kazimieras Ramonas unceremoniously sacked; new central bank department will take over financial market supervision in 2012
China central bank official nominated to join private bank’s board
Wang Hongzhang tipped to become chairman of the China Construction Bank Corporation after unanimous nomination to join board of directors; will leave People’s Bank of China after a long career there
Canada’s Murray identifies shift in global policy effort
Bank of Canada deputy governor John Murray highlights prospective benefits from co-ordinated policy response to current economic problems
IMF paper calls for urgent completion of macro-prudential frameworks
Fund study says early implementation of new macro-prudential measures will mitigate cross-border risks
Vices of monetary policy must be addressed: ECB's Stark
European Central Bank executive board member draws on the ‘virtuous’ and ‘vicious’ relationship between globalisation and monetary policy
Housing market reforms can boost recovery: Fed’s Yellen
Federal Reserve vice-chair Janet Yellen says there is good case for government to address the dysfunctional US housing market
Austria's Nowotny under scrutiny in banknote bribery case
Governor Ewald Nowotny and members of the central bank’s supervisory board under investigation; accused of having knowledge of bribery of foreign officials in race to win banknote printing contracts
ECB credibility is damaged, say CBP panellists
Fourth Central Banking ON AIR webinar sees heated discussion over the future of the eurozone; ECB has suffered damaged credibility but independence is unscathed, say panellists
UK government launches separate easing programme
Bank of England agrees to reduce the maximum size of its Asset Purchase Facility to make way for government’s new credit easing programme; settles dispute over bolstering lending to SMEs
Malaysia and Singapore sign cross-border collateral MoU
Monetary Authority of Singapore and Bank Negara Malaysia sign agreement to establish cross-border collateral arrangement; boosting confidence of financial institutions is one aim of the move
Bank of Lebanon denies financial ties with Syrian regime
Governor Riad Salameh says Arab League sanctions on Syria will not apply as Lebanese central bank does not have any dealings with Damascus
BoJ’s Nishimura sees risks from commodity-linked instruments
Bank of Japan deputy governor Kiyohiko Nishimura says policy-makers should monitor developments in commodity markets more closely
Households hedge labour risk: Riksbank paper
Riksbank study shows households hedge labour income risk in more volatile jobs market
Credit expansions strengthen recessionary trends: SF Fed paper
San Francisco Federal Reserve study finds credit intensity of the boom periods matter for path of recession